NYC Mayor Eric Adams is telling stores to have customers remove their face masks

New York no longer has a face mask mandate — and New York City Mayor Eric Adams is telling stores to get customers to lower their mask before entering, to help prevent crime. It's a reversal of previous guidance for shops: Here, a face mask sign is seen on a cafe's door in December of 2021, when the state mandated the wearing of masks. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Worries about the safety of New York City's deli clerks and bodega workers have Mayor Eric Adams making an unusual request: Members of the public should lower their face masks to reassure store workers they're not criminals, Adams and other city leaders said on Monday.

"We are putting out a clear call to all of our shops, do not allow people to enter the store without taking off their face mask," Adams said in an interview with radio station 1010 WINS.